Die-casting machine



0r16,'19zs. l 1,688,055 L. A. PALEY DIE CASTING MACHINE Oct. 16, 1928. 1,688,055

' L. A. PALEY DIE CASTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 2, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 16, 1928.

L. A. PALEY DIE CASTING MACHINE Filed oct. 2, 1922 3 sheets-sheet IPatented Oct. 16, 1928.

-1,688,055 PATENT OFFICE.

UNITED sTATEs LEWIS A. PALEY, 0F GRAND ISLAND, NEW YORK.

DIE-GAS'IING MACHINE.

Application led October 2, 1932. Serial No. 591,844.

This invention relates to a die casting machine for making metal castings and is espe'- cially adapted for making die castings of aluminum and other alloys.

In the art of die casting, many machines which have vbeen proposed, are impractical because of defects in design. In some machines plungershave been used to force the metal into the die cavityand these plungers stick in their cylinders and make it necessary for the machine to be dismantled and cleaned before operations can beresumed. Other machines frce the metal intothe die cavity by e the application of compressed air and in some of these machines the pressure vessel or nozzle is movable relative to the die and when the air pressure is applied it is dillicult to maintain the nozzle in close Contact with the die with the result that a leakage of metal takes place.

In other machines the die is moved, opened and closed, by steam pressure and the heat of the steam is oppressive to the operator. Also in the use of lcom ressed air for forcing metal into the die, air 1s applied to the metal when "the die is in open position with the result thatthe operators are badly `burned the escaping metal. In die casting, a cyc e of operations is necessary in order to produce the iinished castings and on many machines,4 a

30 multiplicity of operating levers are necessary rioV the result so that the time neceseach casting is unnecessathe levers may be operated that damage to the mato produce sary for producin rily prolonged an inthe wrong way so chine results.v

An object of the invention therefore is to y machine in which a rig- A provide a die castin idly supported nozz e-registers precisely with the gate opening ofthe die s'o that no leakage of metal takes place.

Another object of this invention is to rovide a die casting machine in which no va ves or pistons are located in contact with the molten metal. X'

Another object of this invention is to provide a die casting machine in which the minimum number of operatin and operations are carrie out in a xed cycle.

Another object of this invention isto prevent compressed air being applied to the pressure vessel until the die is locked in positijon in contact with'the nozzle.

A further object of the invention is to refill the pressure vessel with a new charge of metalv of a suitable urnace.

levers are required A still further object of the invention is to prevent dross and metallic oxides from collecting in the vicinity of the nozzle so that only clean metal is admitted to the pressure chamber.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a 'part of this specification in which it is understood thatthe drawings illustrate only one form of the invention and in which A Figure 1 is a side elevation of the die cast- 1n machine with the die in open position.

igure 2 is a central section-al view through the die casting machine with the die in the lowermost closed position.

Figure 3 is a plan v'ew of the die casting machine.

Figure 4.- is a sectional view through the die (gisting machine on the line 4-4 of Figure ReferringLto the drawings by numerals in which like numerals re resent like parts in the several views, indicates a' pressure vessel having a nozzle 11 which is concave in shape and adapted to eng e a convex aperture of a gate opening 12 ormed. in die sections 13 and 14. The pressure vessel 10 has a removable cover 15 ysecured thereto by boltsv 16 and a pipe .17 secured in said cover supplies compreed air to the pressure vessel or 1n]ecting the metal into the die cavity.

A meltingl pot 18 is provided around its upper perip ery with an outstanding ange 19 which sup ortssaidoton the frame 20l w. he furnace has a fire brick lining 21 which 1s spaced apart' from said pot and combustibles such as gas or oil with the required amountof air are -introduced into said spaces through the pipes 22 so that metal 23 in the pot 1 *8 is kept in a fused and li uid condition. The pressure vessel 10 is pre erably U-shaped in cross section with the nozzle 11 positioned somewhat above the normal metal level 24 in the pot`18. The pressure vessel 10 is supported-on a bracket 25 being secured thereto by bolts 26 passing through flanges 27 `'formed on said `vessel. The bracket 25 is U-shaped and a web or baille 28 extends between the upright legs 29 on said bracket,'for a purpose to-be hereinafter described. A flange 30 extends outwardlyr from the upper end of each arm 29,l spaced apart from the flange 19, and a ad 31 is formed on the'lower side of each ange 30 so as to lll) rest on the furnace frame 20. Slots 32 are A v kthrough said slots andsecure said bracket to the furnace frame so that the nozzle 11 may be adjusted relative to the to allow for dies of different thickness.

In order to move the die relative to the nozzle 11 and pen same for the ejection of the casting, a mechanism is provided which carries out the cycle of operations by the rotation of a single shaft. For this purpose the die section 14 is secured to a back plate 34 which has a pair of outstanding bearings 35 formed on two opposite sides thereof. A vertical spindle 36passes through and is slidably mountedin'each pair of bearings 35, the opposite ends of said spindle being supported in upper collars 37 and lower collars 38 secured to a vertical standard 39. The standards 39 are secured to the furnace frame 20, by means of bolts 40 and to the floor by means of bolts 41 so as to rigidly support the die casting machine. An L-shaped rack having a vert-ical leg 42 and a horizontal leg 43, is secured to the die section 13 by bolts 44 and '45. A horizontal shaft 46 having a toothed section or pinion 47, meshes with the rack and is rotatably supported in bearings 48 formed on the standards 39. The leg 43 of the rack passes through the back plate 34 and upstanding flange 49 on said back plate, bears against the shaft 46 so as to hold said pinion in mesh with the rack teeth. A hub 50 is secured to one end of the shaft 46 and radially extending arms 51 extend from said hub so that said shaft may be manually rotated. If desired the shaft may be rotated by power means not shown, combined with a suitable reversing ear.

A slide bracket 52 extends outwardl from the rack leg y42 opposite to the rack leg 43. An upwardl extending flange 53 is formed on the end o the slide bracket 52, said flange 53 engaging a flange 54 formed on the end of a supporting bracket 55 so as to maintain the rack leg 42 1n mesh with the pinion 47 while the die is being raised and lowered. The supporting bracket 55 is formed on a vertical standard 56 which is secured by bolts 57 to the furnace frame 2O and by bolts 58 to the floor so as lto form a rigid support for the die casting mechanism. When the die is in its lowermost closed osition as shown in Figure 2, the counter cloc wiserotation of the pinion 47 will cause the rack leg 42 and die sections 13 and 14 to be raised while the flange 53 slides along the flange 54. As the rotation of the shaft 46 is continued, the pinion 47 will eventually mesh with the teeth of the rack leg 43 so that the die section 13 is moved to the right while the slide bracket 52 slides on the supporting bracket 55 thus exposing the finished casting. I

An ejector box 59 having outstanding flanges 60, is secured by bolts 61 to the die section 13. E'ector plates 62 are mounted between the walls of the box 59and ejector pins gate opening 12 63 are vsecured to said plates 62 passing through the die section 13 tothe surface of the die cavity. A pair of ejector spindles 64 are slidably mounted in the 'ejector box 59 and are secured to the ejectorplates 62. A notch 65 is formed in the ends of the spindles 64 and lever .66 is pivotally mounted on the standard 56 by means of in 67. A downwardly extending, tapered ange 68 is formed on the inner end of the lever 66 and is adapted to engage the notches 65 onthe spindles 64. A bumper pad 69 is formed on the standard 56, said bumper pad being adapted toengage the ends of the spindles 64 so as to force the ejector pins 63 inwardly to eject the casting when the die section 13 is moved to its farthest right hand position by the rotation of shaft A46.

, In the latter position, the flange 68 engages the notches 65Yand when the shaft 46 is rotated in a clockwise directibn, the ejector plate 62l and ejector pins 63 are pulled back to normal position by the action of the flange 68.1 A handle 70 1s formed on the end of the lever 66 opposite the flange 68 and when the ejector pins 63 have been pulled'back to normal position, the operator then applies pressure to the handle 7 0 to release the flange 68 from the notches 65. A spring 71 on the pin 67 tends to move the lever 66 in a counter clockwise direction so that the flange 68 ismin the path of the spindles 64`and the rotation of said lever is limited by a lug 72 formed onthe pad 69.

In orde;` to lock the die sections together when the gate opening 12 registers with the nozzle 11, a shoulder 73 is formed ony the ejector box 59 and a screw 7 4Vpasses through a threaded section 75 on the standard 56so as to engage said shoulder and lock said die sections together to revent any separation due to the pressure of) the metal. An adjusting wheell 7 6 is adjustably secured to the vend of the screw 74 by means of a set bolt 77 and a clearance segmenty 78 is provided in the periphery of said wheel 76. An air pressure tank`7 9 is connected to the pipe 17 and a va'lve 80 is provided on said pipe 17, said valve having an operating handle 81 for applying to and exhausting the air from the pressure vessel 10. Whenthe valve 80 is closed with the handle81 in position shown in Figure 1, said handle cannot be swung through the arc for opening the air valve until the adjusting wheel 76 is rotated so that screw 74 is in locked position in which case the clearance segment 8 will permit the handle 81 to be moved to open position shown in Figure 2. In this manner the compressed air cannot be applied to the pressure vessel 10 until the die sections are locked together tlhus preventing the operon flanges 85 extending downwardlyfrom loo s aidbeam, the fulcrum being formed by pin 86. The short arm of said lever is provided at the end with a slot 87 through which a pin 88 passes, said pin pivotally securing the end L The vertical movement of the die is limited by the bearings 35 engaging the collars 37 and when the die section 13 is moved to the right, the Section 14 is forceably held in its uppermost position by Dowel pins 91 secured to the die section 13 and slidably engaging the die section 14, maintain the die sections in a fixed relation during the vertical movement thereof.

In order to force the die vsections downwardly on the nozzle 11 before the air pressure is applied to the metal in the pressure vessel 10, toggle arms 92 and 93 are pivotally secured to a vertical standard 94 and lever 84, by pins 95and 96 respectively. The ends of the toggle arms opposite the pins 95 and 96 are pivotally connected by means of pin 97, and handle 98 is formed on a bracket 99 adjacent said pin 97 so that the operator ma push the toggle arms past center, thus loc 'ng the die sections in their lowermost position. The bracket 99 is secured to the toggle arm 92 by means of rivets 100 and is `provided with a stop l101'for limiting the movement of said arms. The standard 94 is secured by bolts 102 to the furnace frame 20 and by bolts 103 to the floor sol as to aid in supporting the die casting mechanism.

It is desired to provide'means for refilling `the pressure vessel 10 through the nozzle 11 after a charge of metal has been ejected into the die and for this purpose a hollow body 104 is secured to a bracket 105, said bracket 'l being secured to the lower end of a vertical shaft 106. The shaft 106 is slidably mounted in bearings 107 and 108, said bearings being formed on a portion of the standard 94, and the bearing 108 is secured to the beam 82 by a brace 109 so as to make a rigid construction. A pin 110 passes through a slot 111 in'the lever 84, said pin being secured to the shaft 106 so that as the die sections are raised and the counter weight 90 is'lowered, the shaft 106 and body 104 are moved downwardly so that said body is lowered into the metal and raises the level of the metal to the line 112 above the nozzle so that the liquid metal flows into the pressure vessel. New metal is admitted to the melting pot 18 adjacent the body 104 and the dross and metallic oxides rise to the surface and are prevented from collecting in the vicinit of the nozzle 11, by the baille 28 so that on y clean metal flows into the pressure vessel 10 through said nozzle-11. The air admitted to the pressure veel 10 is the counterweight 90.-

heated before it enters said vessel, by passing through a coil 113 formed in the pipe 17, said coil being positioned adjacent the heated furnice. vA valve 114 is located on the air sup- P y so as to cut oli' the supply of air from said tank when the machine is not in use. Flexible pipes 116 conduct cooling water through suitable water channels 117 in the die sections to prevent said die from becoming overheated.

In operation beginning with the die in its lowermost position as shown in Figure 2, `with pipe 115 leading to the pressure tank 7 9v a charge of metal in theudie, the adjusting wheel 76 is rotated so that the screw 74 unlocks the die sections 13 and 14. The yhandle 98 is then moved outwardly so as to release the toggle arms and the shaft 46 is then rotated in a counter clockwise direction by manually actuating the arms 51. This causes the two'die sections to be raised vertically with the bearings 35 sliding onthe spindles 36.

As the die sections move vertically, the rack 42 is maintained in mesh with the pinion 47 by flage 49-and by slide 54 engaging the slide 53. tions is limited by the bearing 35 engaging e vertical movement-of the die sec-v the collar 37 and in this position the pimon I engages the teeth of the rack 43 and causes the die section 13 to move horizontally to the right with the slide bracket 52 sliding on the sup! ,port 55. As t-he die section 13'moves to the right, the end of the spindles 64 engage the pad 69 and the ejector pins 63 are pushed inwardly so as to yeject the die casting while the flange 68 engages the notch 65 on the spindle 64 due to the action of the spring 71 on the lever 66. As the lever 84 is lowered during the vertical movement of the die sections, the shaft106 forces the body 104 into i the liquid metal thus raising the level of the metal to the line 112 above the nozzle 11l so that the metal flows into the pressure. ves'- S8110. Y

The shaft 46 is now rotated in a clockwise direction which causes the ejector pins 63 to be returned to normal position by the Harige 68 acting on the notches' 65.. The han le 70 is now moved downwardly to release the flange 68 and the rotation of the shaft 46 is continued in a clockwise direction.

The pinion 47 soon engages the teeth of the rack 42 in which position the die *section 13 is in contact with the die section- 14 and the continued rotation f the shaft 4 6 lowers both die sections so' that the gate opening 12 registers with the nozzle 11, the counter'weight lever 84 at the same time lifting the body 104 vertically. The operator `then moves the handle 98 inwardly so as to move the toggle arms 92 and 93 past center and lock the die in its lowemost position. The wheel 76 is then rotated s'o that the screw`74 locksl the two dieJ sectionsk together and the valve handle 81 is then moved through the safet clearance segment 78 in the wheel 76 to ow airl Ilto pass through valve 80, pipe 17, and heats ing coil 113, into the pressure vessel 10, thus forcing the metal into the die through the nozzle 11. The metal in the melting pot 18 is maintained in a fused condition by a combustible agent admitted into the furnace through pipes 22 Vand new bars of metal are admitted to said melting pot adjacent the body 104 so that the dross and metallic oxides rise to the surface of the metal and are prevented from collecting in the vicinity of the nozzle 11 by baille 28, thus causing nothing y but clean metal to'tlow into the pressure ves- I wouldwsite in 'conclusion that While the illustrated example constitutes a practical embodiment of my invention, I do not limit myself strictly to the details herein illustrated since manifestly the same can be considerably varied without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a die-casting machine, a melting pot,

` a rigidly supported pressure vessel having a ating means adapted to be actuated so tha-t both of said die sections are first vertically raised for a substantial distance` as an integral unit and then opened by moving one die section horizontally.

3. In a die-casting machine, a sectional die having a gate opening, a nozzle adapted to register with said opening and supply liquid metal under pressure tosa'i'd die, and a shaft adapted to be rotated so that Said die is first verticall raised as an i'ntegral unit and then opened gy moving one die section horizontally.

A4. In" adie-casting machine having a sectional `die, nozzle, and'ejector, a shaft, means for rotating said shaft so that said die is rst'raised for, a substantial distance as an integral unit and then opened by the'inovement of one die section and the castin v ejected in the order named. v

5. In adie-casting machine having a sectional die, nozzle and ejector, a shaft, means for rotating said shaft in one direction so that said 'die is first raised for a substantial distance as an integral unit and then opened by the movement of one die section. and the casting'ejected in the' order named, and means for causing said die to be closed and lowered by rotating said shaft in the opposite direction.

6. In a die-casting machine having a pressure vessel, nozzle, sectional die and ejector, a rotatably mounted shaft adapted to move said die away fr'o said nozzle, open said die, eject the casting and reill the pressure vessel with liquid metal by the continuous rotation of said shaft.

7. In a die-casting machine, a melting pot, a pressure vessel having a nozzle in said melting pot above the normal metal level, means for preventing dross from collecting around said nozzle, means for raising the metal level above said nozzle for filling said pressure vessel, and die means adapted to receive liquid metal from said pressure vessel.

z8. In a die-casting machine, a die having a plurality of sections,va rack secured to one of said sections and slidably associated with a second of said sections, a pinion meshing with said rack, a pressure vessel having a nozzle adapted to supply liquid metal .'unden pressure to said die, means for rotating Said. pinion so as to move said die sections vertically relative to said nozzle and to move one of said sections horizontall relative to said nozzle so as to remove a casting from said die.

9. In a die-castin machine having a sectional die and a nozz e, an-L-shaped rack associated with said die, a pinion meshing with said rack adapted to rot-ate so as to move said die sections verticall relative to said nozzle and move one of sai die sections horizontally relative to said nozzle for they removal of the casting, and means for forcin liquid metal under pressure. through sai nozzle into said die. I

10. In a die-casting machine having a pressure vess'el, nozzle and sectional die, screw means adapted to lock said die sections, together when the die engages said nozzle, means for introducing a fluid under pressure into said pressure vessel so as to force liquid metal into said die, means associated with said screwl adapted to prevent the introduction of said fluid into said vessel unless the screw is in a predetermined locked osition,

3nd means for removing the casting rom the 11. In a die-casting machine having a sectional die pressure vessel, nozzle, and melting pot, means for moving said die relative to said nozzle, means for lowering a body into the metal in said pot so asA to cause metal to metal into -said die, and means for ejecting the casting from said die.

12. In a die-casting machine having a nozzle, sectional die and rigidly supported,

sections of said die together,

nozzle, means for introducing a fluid under 'flow into said vessel, means for injecting the lil pressure into said vessel so as to inject metal into said die, and means for moving said die relative to said nozzle so as to ej ect the castingI from said die.

13. In a dieecasting machine having a nozzle, body, melting pot, pressure vessel and sectional die, means for moving said die relative to said nozzle, means for lowering said vbody into said melting pot as said die is moved so as to fill said vessel with liquid metal, means for injecting metal into said die, and means for removing the casting from said die.

14. In a die-casting machine having a die, counter-weight lever and nozzle, toggle arms associated with said lever adapted tol lock said die in contact with said nozzle, means for injecting liquid metal into said die through said nozzle, and means for moving said die so as to eject the casting therefrom.

15. In a die-casting machine having a die, pressure vessel, nozzle, counterweight lever and melting pot, means for moving said die and said lever relative to said nozzle, means associated with said lever adapted to lower said body int-o said pot and raise the level of the liquid metal over said nozzle so as to ll said vessel with metal, means for injecting metal into said die through said nozzle, and means for moving said die so'as to eject the castin therefrom.

16. n a die-castin machine having a rigidly supported nozz e and a sectional die,

means for injecting liquid metal through said nozzle into said die, a manually operated pin; ion for moving said die sections vertically away from said nozzle as an integral unit, and means for moving one of said .die sections horizontally after said vertical,1ntegral movement so as to eject the casting therefrom.

17. In a die-casting machine, a sectional die having a gate opening, a nozzle adapted to register with said opening and supply liquid metal 'under fluid pressure to said die, die operating means adapted to be actuated so that both of said die sections are first vertically raised or a substantial distance as an integral unit and then opened by moving one die section horizontally, and means for locking said die sections together While said gate opening contacts withisaid nozzle.

18,. In a die-casting machine having a frame, a sectional die having a gate openlng, a nozzle adapted to register with said opening and supply liquid metal under pressurel to said die, means for raising the die sections vertically away from said nozzle, means for moving one of said die sections horizontally to open said die, ejecting means'associated with said die, and catch means associated with said frame adapted to operate said ejectin means during the horizontal movement o said die section so as to eject the casting from said die.

LEWIS A. PALEY. 

